Conventional hinges which are utilized to affix a door to a frame, are generally attached to the frame and to the doors with the use of standard fasteners such as screws or bolts or the like, and are usually dimensioned to be utilized with a specific type of frame and door. For example, a kitchen cabinet is generally comprised of a combination of one of several typesof cabinet frames--i.e. with or without a front stile--and one of several types of doors--i.e. either complete overlay or recessed from the end portions of the cabinet. The hinges which are used with such cabinetry are usually designed for a specific combination and purpose, thus minimizing the versatility which would otherwise be desirable not only from the standpoint of the end user, but also from the standpoint of the manufacturer, the wholesaler, the retailer, and the installer. For example, most present-day hinges which are constructed for left hand doors are generally not usable for mounting right hand doors and vise versa.
Variations in manufacturing styles and tolerances have long provided a significant deterrent with respect to the possible development of a hinge which would be readily and optionally mountable and demountable with respect to the cabinet frame or door (or both) with a minimum amount of major adjustment being required when a door is actually assembled with a cabinet. Manufacturers and suppliers of kitchen cabinetry have generally been required, out of necessity, to stock many types of cabinets and many types of doors either wholly or partially assembled so as to satisfy the particular needs and whims of their numerous potential customers. Such excesses in cabinet stocks are generally quite space consuming and expensive and the elimination of such requirements would be particularly desirable for a plurality of economic and practical reasons.
Attempts have been made to standardize hinge construction for the purpose of avoiding the problems heretofore described and to accommodate high-capacity cabinet constructions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,423,786 to Arias, Jr., et al. is directed to a cabinet hinge having separable hinge leaves wherein first and second hinge leaves are hingedly connected through a connector portion of the second hinge leaf. The connector portion extends perpendicularly from the hinged connection and provides a free end which is spaced therefrom. A second hinge leaf mounting portion is formed with an opening and outwardly covering channel therein, complementary to the connector portion for endwise slidably receiving the connector portion free end therein, substantially outwardly covered thereby and with resiliently engageable detent means therebetween to retain the assembly.
While the hinge described in the '786 patent may reduce somewhat the problems heretofore described concerning the manufacture and marketing of kitchen cabinetry, this hinge does not eliminate a sufficient number of these problems significantly enough to substantially affect, in a positive manner, the manufacturing and marketing of kitchen cabinetry. In particular, it will be appreciated that the hinge of the '786 patent does not provide the dual multi-directional symmetry and consequent versatility which would make it possible to mount and demount any combination of a plurality of types of cabinet frames and doors in any number of desired arrangements. In particular, it should be noted that the '786 patent describes a "pin-type" hinge, the major portion of which is permanently mountable to the cabinet frame, while one leaf thereof is removably mountable to the door by means of a mounting portion 36.
In addition, it should be noted that with most hinges which are presently available to the consumer, including the hinge described in the '786 patent, the pivot position of the hinge is usually fixed by screws with respect to the door, thus limiting the combination of cabinets and doors which may be matched, notwithstanding the fact that the color or design of the door may be varied to some degree. Another inconvenience in present day hinges is provided by the fact that the dimension of the door can not be changed to achieve the necessary symmetrical effect of the door, both visually and functionally, in relation to the frame.
Also, since, particularly in the case of kitchen cabinets, it is desirable (and often necessary) that the door be biased toward, or at least be actually held in, a closed position, many manufacturers place a magnet and matching metal plate on the cabinet frame and door, respectively. Alternatively, some manufacturers utilize a bullet clip or other holding device to retain the door in the closed position. In other instances hinge manufacturers have utilized various types of expensive and bulky devices including springs, pistons etc. to hold the door of a cabinet in a closed position or to bias the door toward the closed position once it has been moved slightly in the appropriate direction. In essence the provision of such convenience has been inherently difficult and expensive, particularly in the manufacture of kitchen cabinets primarily because of the severe space and aesthetic limitations which are inherent in their design. I have invented a hinge which avoids the aforementioned disadvantages of the present day hinges.